


Waysides

by Karasuno Volleygays (ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor)



Series: Sportsfest 2018 [146]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Angst and Feels, M/M, Societal Homophobia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-19
Updated: 2018-10-19
Packaged: 2019-08-04 12:11:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16346504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor/pseuds/Karasuno%20Volleygays
Summary: A stray touch in front of the wrong people uproots everything Kenji knows and loves. The worst part, however, is that Chikara will never know why they'll never see each other again.





	Waysides

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [ennofuta](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/425213) by equinoxchick. 



> This was written for Sportsfest 2018 remix round. The title is yoinked from the Longfellow poem _Tales of the Wayside_ , where the notable phrase 'ships that pass in the night' originates.

Kenji shivers in the back seat as his parents’ car barrels off into the sunset, as far and fast away from Sendai as the laws of the road allow. Everything he is allowed to keep is wedged into the backseat with him, and his parents’ belongings reside in the trunk.

It’s all over now. The places Kenji has called his own, the people who have insinuated themselves on his very being, the memories forged over the four years he has lived in Sendai, the feelings all of those churn to life inside of him — they’re gone now. The hole they leave is vast and aching and raw.

His pleas fell on deaf ears. Once his folks had caught wind of his _abnormality_ , they had come to scrape every trace of Kenji out of his former life. His phone is disconnected like the rest of everything he’s known since he was fourteen.

They’re moving north, far from the city to live with his grandparents. They have a sizeable property halfway up Iwakagami Daira, a good location for rich people to isolate themselves. Kenji hasn’t been there since he was twelve, and every second spent in their general vicinity makes his skin crawl.

People like him are artfully removed, and that’s why they’re going.

Kenji’s gaze drifts to the rapidly passing scenery and wonders what Chikara will think when he comes back to the dorm they share — no, _shared_ — and finds his whole half of their mutual existence scrubbed away. His mother had even taken the garbage out. Confused, upset, and betrayed come to mind; Kenji can relate.

He thinks about the moment it all unraveled and wonders how it ever got this far.

 

_Kenji opened the door and ushered in his parents, who came to drop off a few odds and ends to turn their dorm room into a suitable reflection of the upcoming holidays. Their care package included decorations, junk food, and a few fortunes to take to the shrine come New Years._

_As they entered, Chikara was a perfect gentleman. He introduced himself, imparted just the correct ratio of embarrassing stories about Kenji and received some in return. Kenji was pretty sure they liked Chikara more than their actual son._

_The day was a picture perfect one, everything Kenji could have wanted when introducing his parents to the guy he was pretty sure he wanted to move onto the next step with. Chikara was his type, and vice versa._

_It had only been a second, a lingering touch while passing a roll of tape, and the next day, the world changed._

 

“You know it’s for your own good, Kenji,” his mother says, peering into the back seat with an insipid smile. “Some time away will do you good. You can get some fresh air and get your mind off of things that are best forgotten.”

Kenji doesn’t reply. How is he supposed to say that his real life is a hundred kilometers behind them, probably wondering how he so badly misinterpreted their signals.

One day, though, he will make this right again.

 

**Ten Years Later**

It isn’t hard to keep track of Chikara. After all, most people who have their own IMDB page aren’t difficult to find. This is the first time he’s been able to screw up the courage to actually do it until now. He’s his own man now. Completely broke and living in the shittiest apartment a partial college education job can buy. It isn’t much, but it’s home now and it’s his.

It’s a place he would love to invite Chikara over to visit for some coffee and some well-deserved explanations.

Outside of the movie theater where Chikara’s first big feature film’s premier party is taking place, Kenji eyes his mediocre suit for the last time and slips into the staff entrance before anyone notices him. He snags a tray without batting an eye, the motion an old one for him now after years of clawing his way through jobs he hated just so he could afford to live in a true ‘screw you’ fashion on his own to spite his entire family.

He’s run it through his head a thousand times. What he plans to say, what he doesn’t, ask a few questions of his own, and hope to hell that Chikara actually still remembers him. However, once he has Chikara in his sights, Kenji freezes mid-stride.

Chikara isn’t alone. Beside him, what Kenji would classify as a ridiculously beautiful man leans into Chikara’s side, and they laugh at a joke someone else at their table makes. Their hands brush on the table, and they sit a little too close for Kenji to mistake it for anything else but what it is.

There is someone else now, and Kenji knows he has no right to ruin that. Whether it had taken hours or years for Chikara to move on, he can’t say, but it happened and Kenji isn’t going to do a damn thing to rock that boat. No matter what he wants for himself.

He traces the outline of the postcard in his pocket, the one he wrote the minute the plot of Chikara’s movie was leaked online. It had been the perfect way to break the radio silence. Instead, he slips it into the kitchen trash and walks away from the ballroom without looking back.

**Author's Note:**

> If any of y'all have parents like this, I'm your new dad.


End file.
